Trade

Jane Kelsey is damning ‘unprecedented procedural machinations and an unholy alliance with the Republicans’  as enabling Barack Obama a super-majority to advance fast track authority in the US Senate by a single vote.   The University of Auckland law professor reckons “the damage to relations between the President and his core Democrat constituency may be irrecoverable, making the content of any …

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact does not yet include an acceptable deal on access for New Zealand’s most important exports, dairy products, with little more than a month to go before the controversial 12 nation trade deal could be concluded. “I think the way I would describe it is there’s a deal. It’s probably not at the level that we would …

The fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade and investment pact may be known as early as next Wednesday, US time, after a vote in the US Congress last night endorsed the elusive ‘fast-track authority’ that President Barack Obama needs if the 12 nation negotiation is to be concluded successfully. However, the next few days will be a “swirling mass”, says New Zealand Trade …

Murray McCully’s controversial $10 million deal to buy off an aggrieved Saudi Arabian investor and his Government and remove a block to a free-trade deal bypassed the normal Government control channels. It’s arguable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has simply been used as a slush fund. But it’s more complex than that. A close look at the …

Murray McCully’s controversial $10 million deal to buyoff an aggrieved Saudi Arabian investor and his Government and remove a block to a free trade deal bypassed the normal Government channels. It’s arguable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has simply been used as a slush fund. But it’s more complex than that. A close look at the …

Auditor-General Lyn Provost must investigate Murray McCully’s secret Saudi deal, which is attracting far too much adverse comment on the international stage to be easily swept under the carpet. Cabinet documents do not shed sufficient light on why McCully spearheaded an initiative which at its kindest interpretation resulted in a sweetheart deal to look after Saudi businessman Hamood Al-Ali Al-Khalaf, …

New Zealand recorded a bigger-than-expected trade surplus in March, as exports fell less than forecast. Statistics New Zealand said the trade surplus was $631 million in March, bigger than the $341 million expected in a Reuters poll of economists and compared with a February surplus of $83 million. Excluding the re-export of a drilling platform to Singapore, last month’s trade …

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has officially opened the Shanghai office of Primary Collaboration New Zealand (PCNZ) – a coalition of New Zealand food and beverage companies pooling their expertise in China. Joyce, who is currently visiting Shanghai to foster business ties between New Zealand and China, says the new premises will provide a boost to the export ambitions of …

New Zealand recorded a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in February, led by declining dairy exports, while the annual deficit widened to the largest in more than five years. Statistics New Zealand said the trade surplus was $50 million in February, lower than the $392 million expected in a Reuters poll of economists. January’s surplus was revised down to $33 million, from $56 million. The …

‘Coverage of the free trade agreement just concluded with South Korea has been all about agriculture – which is being talked up without anyone being able to see the fine print’, according to Professor Jane Kelsey, It appears the legal scrubbing of the text will take several more months. Until then New Zealanders will not get to see what the …